Avoid the old cliches and let originality shine

Too often in fiction writing, especially short fiction, tired old ideas get recycled more often than grandad’s underpants when nanna goes on a coach trip. We’ve all heard the old, “And then he woke up and it was all a dream” example. That’s probably the most famous of the overused tropes and I fervently hope that no-one beyond grade 3 ever uses it again.

But there are a lot more tired old ideas that many people seem to think are still valid. You can take an old idea and put a new spin on it, but